Voice Over
by Kate Barancik
Summary: Sawyer gives Claire a gift before leaving on the raft. SawyerClaire.


Voice Over 

Summery: Sawyer gives Claire a gift before leaving on the raft. Sawyer/Claire   
Rating: PG   
Disclaimer: Don't own Lost or any characters from the show.   
A/N: This is considered AU because some people are at the raft launch who aren't really there. I wrote this before the event actually occured. I'm just slow at posting it. 

She was standing there in the sun, bathed in light, baby in one arm, and holding a baby bottle in her free hand. Maybe he was getting soft, he had after all been the one to give her the bottle after finding it in someone's suitcase. He didn't want to tell her where it came from, but she knew. If there was a baby bottle then that meant there had been a baby. A baby that died in the crash. 

For a moment he just watched her, until she looked over to him with a fleeting smile, but quickly went back to watching Charlie's futile attempt to catch fish with Hurley. But Sawyer couldn't help notice her glance at him from the corner of her eye. Yeah, she definately liked him. 

"Hey, there, mamacita," he said as he walked up to Claire. It was amazing, as soon as the words had come out the baby looked right at him. Sometimes Sawyer thought there was something completely odd about the kid. But now when he thought it he remembered that the baby was the reason he had found her. Though in the back of his mind a small voice asked why he had stood there watching her for a good ten minutes before coming to her. 

"Hi," she said in that cute Austrailian accent. She never spoke many words to him, but that was okay, what she did say always tied his stomach in knots. He tried to ignore it, tried to busy himself with Kate, but nothing worked. Claire would walk past and every thing stopped, time itself no longer existed and the beat of his heart was trapped somewhere in his throat. 

"Raft's leaving today. Guess I'm goin' so I thought-" Sawyer begain, but wasn't able to finish. There was a loud woot from the water and both he and Claire looked to see Charlie holding a small fish. It would have been a proud moment for most men if the fish had been bigger then Sawyer's fist. Not to mention the wave that snuck up behind the two fishermen, knocking Charlie into the water. Hurley shook his head and helped Charlie, who had now lost his catch to the ocean, back up. 

Claire let out a soft laugh and Sawyer realized he didn't think he had ever heard her laugh before. It was beutiful, and for some reason it reminded him of a girl he had meant one time at a concert. He just stared at her, memorizing the way her eyes lit up and her cheeks turned pink when she smile. After all, he would need something to keep him sane while on the raft. 

"Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked, looking back to Sawyer. He was sure that was the longest sentance she had said to him. 

"Right, uh, the raft's leavin' so thought ya might need somethin' to keep Baby Huey amused while I'm gone," he answered. He was sure that was the longest sentence he had ever said to her. He held his hand out and in his palm was a small, black tape recorder. Claire didn't take it, just stared in amazement like it was the Holy Grail. 

"You taped yourself?" Claire asked, looking back up to him. He cleared his throat, trying to get his heart back in his chest where it belonged. 

"Don't know, kid seems ta like the sound of my voice," the Southern drawl more evident in his voice. "Stranger things have happened." 

"Like polar bears?" she said, completely straight faced. He smiled and let out a chuckle. 

"Like polar bears," he replied, watching her closely as her smile returned. Needless to say, Sawyer felt a little awkward with the tape recorder still sitting flat in his palm. It reminded him of the day on the beach when he had given her all those peoples' wallets. That had been it, that was when he decided that there was something about her. It had been right there, at that very moment. 

"Thanks," she replied, finally takeing the recorder. She juggled it with the bottle, which she started to bend down to put it in the sand. 

"What're ya doin'?" he asked, taking the bottle for her. 

"Listening to it," Claire answered, but just as she was about to press the play button, Sawyer grabbed her hand. The warmth of it flooded his arm and infected his brain, the feel of her skin etching into his memory. She looked at him with a frown and he was sorry that he had grabbed her so roughly. 

"Not yet, only got a few batteries, don't wanna run 'em out," he answered, loosening his grip on her hand, but not releasing it. For a moment Claire just looked at him, right in the eye. Sawyer wanted nothing more then to look away, but it seemed that she was looking for something. 

"Okay," she said, letting out another smile. 

"Hey," said Charlie a bit defensively as he walked up the beach toward them. He was boring holes through Sawyer, but let his gaze travel to where Sawyer was still holding onto Claire's hand. 

Sawyer let go of her hand and walked off without another word and, using all his effort, did not look back. He walked into his tent and just stood, huffing angrily. The little twirp had ruined everything for him. Couldn't the faded rock star just take a hint and leave Claire to Sawyer. 

That afternoon, Sawyer had just finished putting all the belongings they might need on the trip into the makeshift hold of the raft. Earlier Jack had put rudimentary medical supplies in it, or as he put it, "a sort of First Aid kit." 

Jack stood there now, along with Kate unfortunate enough to stay on the island while the four of them took off to salvation. It was beginning to get late, he realized as he looked over to see Locke joining the group, Shannon glaring at him from the other side of the group. They had all gathered around to wish them good travel. Like family. 

But Sawyer could not help but notice one particular person missing from the castaways. Claire had yet to come, or Charlie. He was worrying that she would miss their cast off. Yup, he was getting soft. He shook his head to get the thought out of it, but only succedded in bumping it back just far enough. 

"Ready?" asked Michael as he help Walt and Jin into the raft. There were no hugs or kisses or goodbyes. Nobody wanted to say farewell exactly, fearing that they would jinx the crew if they did. Sawyer climbed into the boat, slightly upset that Claire was missing his grand exit. 

As soon as Sawyer had jumped aboard the ship and returned to face the group Charlie and Claire were just detangling themselves from the jungle. They joined the others near the launch. A smile Sawyer couldn't control creeped up on his face. 

"Thought you were gonna miss our party, sweetheart," he said to her. She smiled prettily back to him, giving him something to remember. Just incase something happened. Incase he never saw her again. 

"Not for the world," was her reply, which obviously hurt Charlie. From the group a few stepped out, including Jack, Hurley and Sayid. They pushed the raft out into the water and stood back, watching the sails pick up the wind. 

Sawyer waved to Claire, and maybe a little to Kate. He was probably even waving a tiny bit to Jack. But mostly it was to Claire. The island began to shrink, and they glided farther and farther away until there was nothing but water. For a few hours nothing happened until Sawyer felt a sudden bump underneath the hull. At first he ignored it until he heard Michael say something that would end up changing the rest of Sawyer's life. 

"What the hell is that?" 

As Claire watched the raft become a tiny speck on the sea she wondered when, of if, she would ever see Sawyer again. It was foolish crush to begin with, but when she saw him she couldn't help but get tied up in her nerves. When he had brought her the wallets, that's when it had begun, that's when it had all started. 

Everytime she had those feelings, she would push them away, convince her that there was Charlie. He was the more proper choice, not some good looking, pompus jerk. Except that he had never acted that way to her. Even with Kate he did, but maybe she had it wrong. Maybe that was how he showed he cared about someone. 

Then there was overhearing him say she liked him. It was true enough, but she blushed at the thought he knew about it. The look on his face when she returned to the beach with the baby, how he had looked at her when she stepped in on him reading a car magazine to the baby. At first there was just confusion, but he had looked at her in a way that no one ever had, not even the lowsy boyfriend who had left her alone and pregnant. 

Now she sat on the beach, watching the sunset. Charlie had left long ago on Claire's demand. She sat with the baby in her arms and just watched where the speck that was the raft had disappeared long ago. She wondered if they would be all right, if they would make it back, if she would see them again. Would they bring help or more trouble? 

Claire brought the tape recorder out of her pocket and clutched it tightly in her hand. Part of her desperately wanted to listen to the message, but the other part wanted to leave it for when he came back. However, the former won out. 

"Let's just have a listen, huh," she said to the baby, who was beginning to sleep. With a deep breath she pushed play. 

"Uh, hey," came Sawyer's voice. "Well, kid, I'm gonna tell you a story. It starts with a plane crash and 48 survivers on a tropical island in the middle a nowhere. But don' worry, it'll have a happy endin'. You see, there's this girl named Claire, and she's the prettiest thing ya ever seen. She meets this fella who thinks that she is the sweetest beauty in the world." 

"But they don't really talk much, but they both know that there's somthin' there. Ofcourse there's this British git with a drug problem whose always gettin' in the way," Sawyer's voice said. Claire let out a laugh as the tape went on, "And one day the fella sets off on a sailboat to get help, 'cause he don't want the girl to sit on an island for the rest of her life." 

"So, he sails away into the horizon, his mind thinkin' of the girl. Time passes and the girl starts forgettin' about him until he fades away like he did on the ship," the voice stops for a moment. "I know I said there was a happy endin'. Well, Claire stays with the Brit and they live happily ever after." 

"Maybe not the ending they wanted, but it's the most likely one, huh? Sometimes we don' always get the endin' we were hopin' for, that's life, kid. Just do that fella a favor and take care of your momma. She's a good women and if somehow that fella comes back, don't let him near her, for her own good." 

The voice abruptly ended there, Sawyer had stopped recording. For a moment all Claire could do was sit in the fading light, her eyes stinging. She thought she was ready for the possibility of Sawyer not returning, but to forget about him completely was unimaginable. That could never happen. She was about to press the stop when a crackle came from the recorder and Sawyer's voice came again. 

"Hey, Claire, kid asleep?" he asked. "Good, now I get to talk dirty to ya." Claire let out a huge laugh and a tear escaped from the side of her eye. "Jus' kiddin' ofcourse. I just wanted ta add somethin'. Look, that story, it might be true, might not. Just know that I won' let you down. I'll bring help, I'll get you off that island come hell or high water, babe." 

There was a sudden pause and a rustling of tarp. "Well, speak of the devil. Look at you bein' so pretty watchin' that ass tryin' to catch fish. Guess I should give ya this." There was another pause. "Look, sweetpea, I don't know what'll happen on that raft, but if I die just know that smile of yours will be the last thing I see. But don't think 'bout that. We'll be back before ya know it." 

"God, I really am gettin' soft, aren't I?" and the tape stopped. Just like that Sawyer's voice was gone again and Claire could not help but think that this tape might end up being the only remainder of Sawyer. She sat for a moment and watched the stars break out of the lost light of the sun. The baby slept peacefully in her arms as she pressed rewind, wanting to hear his voice over again. 

The End 


End file.
